Please select your home edition
Edition
Selden 2020 - LEADERBOARD

2024 TF35 Mies Cup - Day 1

by TF35 Trophy 7 Jun 23:00 BST 7-9 June 2024

It was a solid opening day for the TF35 Mies, the second event of the 2024 tour, with four different race winners over the five races sailed and every boat in the fleet hitting the podium in at least one race. Topping the overnight leaderboard, Realteam Sailing's helm, Jérôme Clerc, and tactician Sébastien Col made the best start with two victories and two seconds.

"Great conditions today. Five superb heats, very tight, and increasingly close at the end of the day, with crossings everywhere at the gates," explained Realteam Sailing's mainsail trimmer Jeremy Bachelin. "It's not like in previous years when the fastest boat won. Now, you have to be out in front from the start to compete for podium places. Overall, we are happy with our results; we were able to pull out all the stops and build up power during the day."

After a short delay ashore, racing opened in a steady 12-knot southwesterly breeze and bright sunshine on Lake Geneva, Switzerland, these conditions were perfect for the TF35 high-performance one-design foiling catamarans.

In Race 1, Yann Guichard's Sails of Change 8 was one of the first teams to recognise the advantage on the left side of the course. With a clean, impeccably timed start, they led the race from early on to win by a solid margin. Behind Realteam took second in a photo finish with Ylliam 17, who impressively climbed through the fleet from fifth to third.

The call to take a more central line in Race 2 proved a winning move for the newest helm to join the fleet Duncan Späth, and his tactician Yann Jauvin, on Sails of Change 10. Third at the first windward gate, they gained ground downwind eking out a slight lead ahead of teammates Sails of Change 8 in second and Realteam in third.

"We got our first win, which is really cool," confessed helm Späth. "We made good progress on the points we identified in Nyon. We had very nice conditions, around 13-15 knots, so it was a good day."

"Everyone sails well in good conditions. You have to find the little spaces and the nice angles, play your game correctly and then the opportunities open up. But of course, the fleet is very close."

In Race 3, a good start and going left in a clear breeze meant that Realteam was off and uncatchable. Sails of Change 10 and 8 were left in their wake to battle it out for a photo finish, taking second and third, respectively, with ZEN Too finishing a respectable fourth.

Realteam repeated their performance in Race 4 to take a second easy victory in a row, this time chased down by Ylliam XII - Comptoir Immobilier in second and Sails of Change 8 in third.

The fifth and final race of the day delivered another shakeup. Having been caught mid-pack in dirty air off the line, ZEN Too tacked off early on the beat to find a clear breeze on the right. Coming into the first windward gate on the starboard lay line, she was able to cross the fleet and, with more pace than the closest competitor, Sails of Change 8, pulled into the lead and staved off a challenge by Realteam on the second beat to take the win.

Unusually for the TF35 fleet, this weekend's grand prix racing is broken up tomorrow by the Genève-Rolle-Genève long-distance race when the six TF35s will join a fleet of 200 boats of all shapes and sizes for a 13:30 start from Yacht Club Genève. Normal windward leeward grand prix racing for the TF35 Mies event will resume Sunday.

"We're sailing in a magnificent place. The windward leeward regattas are great, and the long-distance races are top-notch. They're two different approaches, and I like them both," Späth concludes.

Follow the "Genève-Rolle", prologue to next weekend's Bol'Or Mirabaud, tomorrow via the trac trac app or at www.tf35.org.

TF35 Mies Results: (after five races)

1. Realteam Sailing (SUI 7) - 2 3 1 1 2 - 6pts
2. Sails of Change 8 (SUI 8) - 1 2 3 3 3 - 9pts
3. Sails of Change 10 (SUI 10) - 4 1 2 4 4 - 11pts
4. ZEN Too (SUI 4) - 5 6 4 5 1 - 15pts
5. Ylliam XII—Comptoir Immobilier (SUI 12) - 6 4 6 2 5 - 17pts
6. Ylliam 17 (SUI 17) - 3 5 5 6 6 - 19pts

To find out more visit tf35.org.

Related Articles

Sails of Change celebrate winning 2024 TF35 Trophy
It is the first time that a TF35 team has won the 'triple' Yann Guichard and his young team on Sails of Change 8 are celebrating winning the TF35 Trophy at the end of a highly competitive 2024 racing season on Lake Geneva. Posted on 23 Sep
TF35 Realstone Cup For Léman Hope overall
Zen Too claims event victory, Sails of Change 8 secures season title The 2024 TF35 season came to a quiet close today at the Société Nautique de Genève, as calm conditions on Lake Geneva persisted for a second consecutive day, preventing any further racing. Posted on 22 Sep
TF35 Realstone Cup For Léman Hope Day 2
The sailing breeze refused to blow After a light but successful opening day at the TF35 Realstone Cup for Léman hope the forecast was for more of the same on day two, with the NE'ly thermal wind forecast to kick in during the afternoon. Posted on 21 Sep
TF35 Realstone Cup For Léman Hope Day 1
A strong start in light conditions for Zen Too Guy de Picciotto's Zen Too made the best start today to the final deciding event of the 2024 TF35 season when they won the first race, took third in the second race and followed it up with another victory in the third windward-leeward race. Posted on 20 Sep
TF35 Les Voiles de Choisi overall
Super consistent Realteam wins Esteban Garcia's Realteam Sailing skippers by Jérôme Clerc with tactician Sébastien Col have won the single race final day of the TF35 Voiles de Choisi, winning the event with a five-point advantage over Yann Guichard's Sails of Change 8. Posted on 1 Sep
TF35 Les Voiles de Choisi Day 2
No wind, no racing for the TF35s At the 10am briefing, the forecast for day two of the TF35 Les Voiles de Choisi promised a repeat of day one: no wind in the morning but a nice thermal breeze in the afternoon. Posted on 31 Aug
TF35 Les Voiles de Choisi Day 1
Realteam returns to winning form With two clean victories followed by a second and third on the first day of racing at the Les Voiles de Choisi, skipper Jérôme Clerc and tactician Sébastien Col showed why Realteam Sailing are two times TF35 tour champions. Posted on 31 Aug
TF35 Les Voiles de Choisi Preview
Racing resumes in Rolle after a two-month summer break After a two-month summer break, the TF35 fleet is ready to race again on Lake Geneva, Switzerland, for the fifth event of the 2024 season, the Les Voiles de Choisi. Posted on 29 Aug
Sails of Change wins thrilling Bol dOr Mirabaud
Lake Geneva sees the team's fifth win Sails of Change has taken the team's fifth win in one of the most exciting recent editions of the iconic Bol d'Or Mirabaud on Lake Geneva. Posted on 16 Jun
Sails of Change 8 wins 85th Bol d'Or Mirabaud
Masters of the long-distance race in a TF35 Sails of Change 8 have proved themselves as masters of the long-distance race in a TF35, winning the 85th Bol d'Or Mirabaud in 6h22m24s after winning the Geneve-Rolle-Geneve last weekend. Posted on 16 Jun